November 14, 2023 • 33 mins
About the Host:
Stuart has been a nomad since 2020, traveling in his 40-foot Super C and 24-foot Sprinter van. He is accompanied by his two cats, Camden and Izzy. You can follow his adventures on Instagram at Stuart Doing Stuff.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
And welcome to RV Dreaming.
In this podcast, we help youprepare for life on the road.
Whether you're in an RV or van or inthe back of your car, we teach you how
to get on the road and how to surviveyour first year as a full time nomad.
RV Dreaming, start here.
Go anywhere.
How you doing?
My name is Stuart from Stuart doing stuffon Instagram I've been a no man since
(00:23):
2020 and I split my time between my 40foot super C RV and my 24 foot Sprinter
van and I travel with my two cats Camdenand Izzy follow me on Instagram at
Stuart doing stuff That's S-T-U-A-R-T-doing stuff for more stories and videos
and today We're gonna talk about fulltime RVing and not about my travels Per
(00:45):
se, we're gonna talk about whether it'sgonna be great for you because everybody
asks, is full-time RVing like worth it?
Is it, is it good?
And, and should I do it?
And, and I think that questionhas so many complicated answers.
So today we're gonna take a step,a six step assessment on whether or
(01:06):
not full-time RVing is right for you.
First, we're going to understand whatfull-time RVing is all about, and then.
We're going to talk about the prosand the cons of full time RVing.
We all see the pros on Instagramand on YouTube and all the pretty
stuff, but there are a lot of cons.
I think sometimes there's just asmany, if not more cons as pros when
(01:26):
it comes to living full time in an RV.
We're also going to talk about financialconsiderations, whether or not you can
really save money by living on the road.
We're going to talk about lifestyleadjustments, about how your lifestyle
is going to completely change from whatit is now to being on the road mobily.
And then finally, we're goingto talk about, is RVing, full
(01:46):
time RVing, right for you?
With a little self assessment, andtaking into account everything that
we've talked about up until this point.
Okay, are you ready?
Alright, let's do this.
So number one, understandingfull time RVing.
Now there's a couple waysthat people look at this.
I'm a what, I'm a full time RVer.
But there are other RVers that arealso full time that do it differently.
(02:08):
And what does that mean?
So, I do not have a home base.
Some people have a home base.
Maybe they live in their vans but theykeep a storage shed or they keep a land
or a house that they rent and they go backto it to maybe take a break from the road.
Maybe, you know, whatever.
I don't have any of that.
I am.
I live full time on the road.
I don't have a place where I go backto, to unwind or to reset or regroup or
(02:33):
any of that, what my home is, my van.
And so wherever I go, I, I,I have all my stuff with me.
I don't have a reset position.
I don't have a place where Ican go and just take a time out.
So I'm a full, full time RVer.
And sometimes that doesn't always workfor people because when you're out.
(02:53):
On the road, you're always having tosay where am I going to sleep tonight?
Where am I going to go?
What direction am I going to go?
And for some people, likemyself, that's exciting.
That's entertaining.
That's that great, um,adventurous, spontaneous spirit.
Where you don't know where you'regoing to wake up in the morning and
you don't know where you're goingto see or who you're going to meet.
That, you have to have.
Some people just don'thave that, and that's fine.
(03:15):
Does that mean that if you don'thave that spontaneous spirit,
you can't be a full time RVer?
Absolutely not.
You absolutely could.
When I first started RVing inmy Super C, I had reservations
planned out for six months.
I knew where I was going, I knewhow long I was going to be there, I
knew what I wanted to do when I wasthere, and I knew when I was leaving.
So there's a whole bunch of different,um, ways that you can full time.
(03:40):
But I think one of the biggestcharacteristics of full time RVers...
Is you're looking for something new,you're looking for an adventure, you're
looking to try and do something or seesomething that you've been wanting to
or you never thought you would havean opportunity or a chance to do,
you know, full time RVing is amazing.
I'm out here in Palm Springs right now.
And because I'm in my van,I have, I'm at a campsite.
(04:02):
I'm at a Thousand Trailscampsite, and I was able to get
a reservation here for two weeks.
My, my plan allows me to getthree weeks of reservation.
I'm only at two.
But, I will take the van, and I'll,I'll go out and explore Palm Springs.
There's some great hiking, there'ssome great sightseeing, there's
some great stuff out here to do.
And then, sometimes, I'll stay out there.
I'll just stay, you know, maybe ifI'm gonna go do a Joshua Tree tour.
(04:25):
I'll go out and do a night inJoshua Tree, and then I'll come
back to the Thousand Trails.
You know, to my campsite that's hereand regroup and shower and do all
those other, other kinds of things.
Um, there's other times where I'mjust trying to beeline it from one
place to the other and I'm goingto go six, eight hours a day.
Other times I just don'tknow where I'm going.
So I'm just looking for an adventure.
(04:46):
You know, I've, I've foundthat small towns are amazing.
I found that, um, I actually.
I kind of enjoy going to smaller towns andsmaller areas like that than I do going to
bigger ones just because there's, there'sso much more to see and so much more
to do there and so much more character.
That's exciting.
You know, so I think all ofus who are full time RVers, we
(05:07):
have that sense of adventure.
We have that sense of excitementof what's behind door number two.
You know, somebody came up toyou and said, Hey, I'm going to
give you 100 cash or you can havewhatever is in this mystery box.
I think we're going to take themystery box, or at least I would.
You know, win or lose, you never know.
There's times where I've haddestinations where I'm just so looking
(05:28):
forward to going and then when I getthere, it's such a disappointment.
And then there's other times where I go,well, I don't want to drive anymore, I
think I'll just stop here, and it turnsout to be some of the best places and
some of the most fun that I've ever had.
So, you just never know.
So, understanding full time RVingThere is no wrong way to RV.
(05:50):
I think that's the best way to say it.
Whether you want to be highly spontaneouslike myself, like I just described, or if
you want to be a planner and know whereyou're going, why you're going, like I did
when I first started, you can do that too.
Is one way wrong, or better, or worse?
Absolutely not!
It just all depends on whatyou want out of your RV travel.
(06:14):
So don't let anyone tellyou you're doing it wrong.
Because there's no such thing.
Okay, so now let's talk about someof the pros of full time RVing.
Here's step number two, freedomand flexibility to travel.
I remember when I was working,I would love to travel.
I wanted to go see things and Iwanted to go do things, but the
cost of travel between airplanetickets, hotel rooms, meals eating
(06:38):
out, all that stuff really adds up.
In an RV, you have none of that.
You don't need to worryabout hotel room bills.
You don't need to worry about eating out.
You don't need to worry aboutthe, the, all these other expenses
because you have your stuff with you.
So if you want to splurge and you wantto go out to dinner, you can do that.
But if you wanted to stay home and cook...
(07:01):
You can do that too.
That's the greatest part aboutfull time RVing is you have
everything you need with you.
It really significantly cuts downthe cost of travel, the cost of
exploring, and there's the costof vacationing to an extent.
So that has got to be the biggest thing.
If you ever said, I want to go here butI can't afford it, you probably could
(07:22):
afford it if you are a full time RVer.
It really does strike the cost.
We're going to talk about financialconsiderations coming up in step four.
Um, More about pros.
And I'm going to say thisbecause to me this is a pro.
To some people it might not be.
But I'm going to go with, uh, simplifiedliving and downsizing possessions.
(07:43):
There is a time in everyone's life, Ithink, that you kind of realize that,
um, You measure your worth, your life,yourself, your accomplishments, not by the
car you drive or the house that you have,but by some of the other intangibles,
like your relationships, your family,your children, your friends, you know.
(08:04):
And, and now, as long as you havethat, you don't need these things.
So, downsizing and simplifying your life,um, and it allows you to really focus on
relationships and focus on bigger thingsas opposed to focusing on, oh, look at
that new model car that just came out.
I need to go get that.
(08:25):
Or, oh, check out thisTV, I need to go get that.
Simplified living takes a lot ofstress off your plate that you
can use to focus on other things.
So that is a, a big pro in my book.
Uh, potential cost savingscompared to traditional living.
You know, when you look at thecost of rent nowadays, when
(08:46):
you're looking like in California.
A one bedroom apartment can be goingfor anywhere between 2, 500 and 4, 000
a month for a one bedroom apartment.
You know, and, and that'sjust, to me, mind boggling.
That, um, you can do that.
We talk, we, we hear stories allthe time about how the real estate
(09:07):
market is Is it's just dead right now.
Interest rates are high, nobody'sselling, you know, it's just, it's
really hard to get into, uh, into a home.
And so because of that, everybody'srenting and it's driving up rent prices.
So we hear about all that kinds of stuff.
And I just say, you know, an RV maybe a depreciating asset, but at least
(09:31):
it's still an asset when you're rentingfrom somebody, an apartment or a house.
It's an asset, but it's not yours.
It's not going towards anything.
When you leave that lease,you can't get anything back.
As opposed to an RV, you go out andspend 50, 000 on an RV, you live in
it for X number of years, and whenyou go and sell it, and you sell
(09:52):
it for 30, 000, at least now you'regetting 30, 000 of your 50 back.
It only cost you 20.
You know, so, there's, there's...
Benefit of even though it is adepreciating asset and at least it's
your asset At least when it comes timeto get rid of it and sell it and move
on and change your life or whatever youwant To do at least you have now still
(10:12):
something to show for it So that's to meis is another pro is it gets you out of
that Sticks and bricks it gets you outof that rental place at the high rent
where you can still Save quite a bit ofmoney doing this Another pro and this is
one that I did not anticipate, but it'sthe community on the road There are some
(10:33):
amazing people traveling full time intheir RVs And I'm not talking about, like,
if you see movies and you see, you know,people who talk about, oh, you're living
in your car because you're homeless, youhave no other options, you got bad credit,
you can't get a job, you can't do it.
We're not talking about that.
I know people that I've met on theroad that are computer programmers,
that are data scientists, that areall working remotely, that are all
(10:56):
exploring, that are all traveling,that are all living their best life.
Right now.
And, and I think that's one of thosethings where you kind of get this, this
perception that, Oh, if I'm, if I'mgoing to get on the road, you know,
the only community that's out thereis, you know, these dirty old people
that can't, you know, hold down a job.
(11:16):
They're all druggies or all this.
That's not true.
I mean, there are.
That, them that are out there,but the great thing about being
on the road is you can pack up andyou can go and find your tribe.
You can find people that relateto you, and you relate to them.
There are people that are out there, itdoesn't matter who you are, or what walks
of life you're coming from, you willfind that group of people on the roads.
(11:39):
I'm talking about solo travelers,solo female travelers, families.
Seniors, retired, working age, everythingin the middle, you can find on the road.
And it's not that hard to do either.
All right, tip number three, let'sgo over the cons of full time RVing
because we can make it, you know,look all pretty and, and sunshine
(12:00):
and rainbows and stuff like that, butthere are some cons to full time RVing.
And I think the first one is goingto be the one that resonates with
people the most, and it's the lackof stability, you know, people.
inherently like routines.
They like to go to home, or get home,wake up, go to work, go to their
thing, and then come home and be done.
(12:21):
They like that, people likethat sense of stability.
Um, in an RV, you do have that,but you gotta add a couple
other items into the mix.
So, there is no, uh, you don't havea permanent address, you don't have
a permanent place to live, you don'thave a permanent place to sleep.
Well, you have your van, or yourRV, you sleep in your RV, but
where are you going to park the RV?
You know, you're always thinkingwhat's next, what's next, what's next.
(12:43):
And for some people, they cansee it as just, that's just one
more thing I have to worry about.
You know, and, and, That can alsobe a pro though, because if you
like that spontaneity, if you likethat creativity, if you like getting
out there, that could be there.
Space limitations and privacy concerns.
So space limitations, absolutely.
We talked about this in the prose.
(13:04):
You're downsizing your life.
You're downsizing your possessions.
You're living a more simplistic life,which means you only need the essentials.
You're only going to get the essentials.
You're only going to have roomfor the essentials that you need.
As far as tangible items in your life.
So, when we talk about spacelimitations, I never thought
(13:25):
I could live in a 24 foot van.
I went from a 3, 000 square foot condo,to a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 3, 000 square
foot condo, to a, um, 40 foot RV, to a 24foot van in a matter of a couple years.
I never thought I could do it.
But I love it.
It's, it is the greatest,greatest thing ever.
(13:47):
So, there you go.
Privacy concerns, um, I'm a solo traveler,so I only have to worry about privacy with
my two cats and they don't care, they justkinda do their thing and I do my thing.
I think if you're traveling withyour partner, a wife, spouse,
boyfriend, girlfriend, um, if youwere living together anyways, you're
just gonna get a little closer.
If you're talking about privatetime with, uh, kids and families and
(14:10):
all that, well, I'm not the rightperson to ask on that, I just...
Straight out, I'm notthe right person to ask.
I have no experience with all that.
I can tell you, though, that if you'rea family traveling, or a large group
that's traveling, these RVs that areout there, especially when you get into
these fifth wheel sizes, they've gotprivate bedrooms, they've got outdoor
spaces, they've got indoor spaces.
(14:31):
Some of these things can rival anapartment that you would get in
like a Chicago or a New York oranything along those lines, you know.
Some of these placesare built for privacy.
Some of these new RVs, these fifthwheels, have bunkhouses and attics and
things like that that you can get up toand throw the kids up there and stuff.
So let them have their spaceso you can have your space.
There are ways of getting aroundany sort of privacy concerns that
(14:54):
you may have, um, as an RVer.
I think the one that bugs me the moston the cons list is this maintenance
and the unexpected repairs part.
You could be driving down theroad and anything could happen.
You know, you might say, hey, we'releaving point, place A today and
then we're going to be there in placeB and you could be down the road
and any number of things happen.
You can get flat tires, it could betraffic, it could be freeway shutdowns.
(15:17):
You know, but I think that's one ofthose things that We as RVers, we just
kind of go with the flow on, you know,there's nothing you can do to change it.
So you just, you just shrugit off and you, and you deal
with the problem at hand.
Now, do you like it?
No, absolutely.
Isn't it inconvenience?
Absolutely.
But it's no different than if you'replanning Thanksgiving dinner at
your house and your sewer drop, youknow, backs up or toilet clogs, or
(15:39):
you have a roof that's leaking, youknow, any of these kinds of things.
You, you have to do the same thing.
You just kind of roll with it.
So whether you're in an RV.
Or you're in a Sticks and Brickshome, you're gonna have these
kind of emergencies and theseunexpected repairs that pop up.
Is it happen more often in an RV?
Maybe.
I don't know.
(15:59):
Um.
Depends on your RV.
Depends on the housethat you're living in.
Depends on the, on your landlord.
Depends on a lot of things.
So, that's kind of a, uh, avery different kind of thing.
Another con, and this is the lastone on this section, then we'll
move on to financial considerations.
Uh, the last con I have is, um,weather dependency and safety.
(16:21):
Excuse me.
Weather dependency.
Um, you don't want tobe out in a hailstorm.
You don't want to be outin a lightning storm.
Even heavy rain.
You don't want to beout in excessive heat.
The good thing about it is, we canget away from all those if we need to.
So...
Just always being alert and alwaysbeing aware and you're ready to go.
Not a big deal safety concerns That's athat can run from a wide gamut of things
(16:45):
We do full podcasts on RV safety and youshould go look those up if you haven't
seen it But those are those big two bigcons though that will wrap up this list
as far as full time RVing All right.
So what about money?
What kind of financial considerations?
Are there in RVs?
Well, like I mentionedbefore, you gotta have an RV.
(17:06):
You gotta buy one, you gotta rent one, yougotta lease one, get a loan, do whatever.
Um, how much?
RVs run anywhere between brand new, maybe25, 000 if you want to get a little travel
trailer fifth wheel or travel trailer kindof thing, all the way up to millions and
millions and millions of dollars for thesebig fancy Class As and stuff like that.
I noticed that most people...
(17:28):
Most RVs, you can find, depending onwhat you're looking for, somewhere, you
can find a quality one, especially used,starting as low as 50, 000 and as high
as, you know, six or even seven figures.
So, it's hard to say howmuch money Do I need?
Because it just alldepends on what you wanted.
You can go find an RV with reallygreat bones that's been mechanically
(17:52):
maintained that looks great and youcan gut it just like a house and you
can upgrade it with your own sofas,your own furniture, your own things.
You know, you can make it yours.
Uh, for very, very little money.
So, as far as the cost of an RV, that'sreally kind of up to you, but if you set
your budget, you can go out and you canfind the best darn rig that you can find
(18:14):
that money will buy, that your moneywill buy, and that you can make it work.
That's not a, uh, That is not a drawback.
You can find whatever you needto be able to hit the road.
Even if you have an SUVright now that can tow.
You say your tow capacity is 7, 000pounds like a Jeep Grand Cherokee.
I think their tow 500 pounds.
You can go out and find RVsthat weigh less than that.
(18:36):
And then you're in the, and thenthat's 20 something thousand dollars.
You're good to go.
Right?
You're all set.
Now let's look at some other stuff.
Fuel, insurance,maintenance, campsite fees.
Oh gosh, you know, fuel.
I always say fuel is my biggestexpense, but I travel a lot.
If I traveled less, I wouldn'tspend as much money on fuel.
(18:58):
I mean, it's a basic thing.
If I stuck around an area, like,again, I'm in Palm Springs.
There's a lot of BLM land out here.
There's a lot of stealthcamping spots out here.
Uh, it's a very friendly, RV friendly,stealth camping area to be at.
If I just made a circle and I neverslept in one spot more than two days,
like if I'm here one night and I moveda mile down the road and slept somewhere
(19:19):
else for another night and I moved toJoshua Tree and I was there for a week.
You know, your fuel costis going to be nominal.
Your campsite fees are going to be zero.
You know, you can really addall that kind of stuff up.
Your insurance is going to be thesame whether you drive 1, 000 miles
or you drive 10, 000 miles a year.
You know, that's not the issue.
Maintenance, kind of the same thing.
It's going to fluctuate dependingupon the number of miles that you pay.
(19:41):
Put onto your rig.
So that's kind of a hard kind of scenarioto be able to look at But what I would
say is when you're budgeting you shouldalways budget for emergencies because
you just never know what's gonna happenand emergencies Are different than
your normal repairs and maintenance.
You should be budgeting for yournormal repairs and maintenance for
Your tires, your oil changes, and,and all that other kinds of stuff.
(20:03):
You know that's going to come, sostart putting money away for that now.
Emergency budgeting, I'm talkingabout is if your air condition
dies, your refrigerator dies, andyou need to go and buy a new one.
Those are the emergency kind of costs thatI'm looking at um, when I say emergencies.
So, you have your repairs andmaintenance budget, you also
have your emergency budget.
(20:25):
Let's talk about Income on the road,remote work, seasonal jobs, you know,
you can get jobs at campgrounds.
You can get seasonal jobs as a camp host,running a campground, in maintenance,
in repairs, in customer service.
You know, if you stay, I know alot of people that will stay put
for one campground season, makea bunch of money, And then travel
(20:46):
the rest of the eight months, youknow, that's, that's an option.
There's a, someone that I know thatjust got a amazing, uh, camp work job
in Yosemite, stayed up in Yosemite theentire season, met a ton of different
people and was out exploring the entirepark, lived on site, um, for free.
In the van just cost no money had anamazing summer made a ton of money and
(21:09):
then just hit the road again So thereare a lot of things that you can do
That are out there as far as seasonalwork as far as remote work remote
jobs kovid really element, uh elevatedremote work and when it comes to um
The acceptance and the availability ofnomadic jobs, so that's a huge thing
(21:31):
when we look at financial consideration.
So, can you save money living onthe road or in an RV as opposed
to your current situation?
Well, that's a hard question to answer.
If you're asking that question andyou're in a high rent, high cost of
living area like California, New York,Miami, something along those lines or
Chicago, the answer is probably yes.
(21:54):
But if you're listening and you are in,uh, uh, Iowa or Kansas or some other
lower cost, uh, place, uh, lower costof living, um, the answer could still
be yes, but it's also gonna depend.
So, every situation,every area is different.
So, can you really savemoney by living on the road?
(22:15):
I am.
I'm saving a lot of moneyby living on the road.
Uh, but I also was paying highrent and I was in a high cost
area in Los Angeles, California.
So, that's an individual answer thatyou're going to have to talk about.
And decide for yourself.
Alright, so number five.
Lifestyle adjustments.
Well, we talked about a lot ofdifferent lifestyle adjustments
(22:36):
from moving into a home into an RV.
We talked about the elements of stability.
We talked about downsizing.
We talked about a lot ofthese other kinds of things.
But I think that When you're looking atthese adjustments, you have to go in with
the basic concept that you are moving fromwhat you were doing before, maybe it was
(22:58):
a more materialistic lifestyle, and you'removing now into more of a minimalist.
Lifestyle.
So you only carry what you need.
And for me, I only carry somethingas long as it can do multiple things,
you know, and you just kind of haveto change your way of thinking and
change your, your perception and changeyour outlook on, on certain stuff.
(23:18):
And it is hard.
It can be hard at first.
Um, but I think that it is, um, onceyou kind of get into that, you're
gonna go, Why did I need that 5, 000statue and an interview hall table
and a chandelier and the thing?
You know, because those are justthings that you think you need.
I mean, how many times have we boughtsomething, where it's like, oh, this is
(23:41):
going to make my life so much easier,and then you use it for a little bit,
and then you put it into a kitchendrawer, never to be heard from again.
I mean, those are the thingsthat, that you kind of look at.
It's like, why do I need tobe in that I'm on Ti you know,
like, so you're on TikTok, right?
And you know those things, thoseAmazon products you must have, or
new kitchen gadgets, or whatever.
And it's like, All these things thatyou can go and buy that cost 30,
(24:04):
however much they cost, but it'slike a knife will do the same thing.
Or this whole thing that I alreadyused for one thing can do, so you don't
all of a sudden need those anymore.
So you're not spending moneyon those things anymore.
You know, you're living this down, thisminimalistic, simplistic lifestyle because
you're filling your time, you're fillingyour bucket with experiences and exploring
(24:28):
and taking on A different level ofsatisfaction that you get from, from life.
Not a materialistic ones anymore.
You know, we're going to talkabout living in close quarters
with family or your partners.
Uh, that definitely is goingto be a lifestyle adjustment.
Uh, but again, going into full time RVingwith the right rig, knowing what your...
(24:54):
Must haves and like to haves.
It's like buying a houseor looking for this.
You're going to have your must have list.
You're going to haveyour nice to have list.
Use that list when you go shopping fora rig, and you're going to be okay.
You know, just know that it'sgoing to be a lot closer.
But, here's the great thing about the RVlife, is There's, you know, you have your,
(25:15):
if you're in an apartment, you have yourlittle patio that's just sitting outside.
Right?
Maybe it has a little view of the streetor the park or courtyard or whatever.
But when you're RVing,you don't have a patio.
You have a whole nature preserve.
You have everything.
When you're in an RV park, there'sswimming pools and hot tubs and
rec rooms and pool halls and...
(25:35):
All these different pickleball, I'mlooking at a pickleball court right here
and horseshoes and barbecue pits, youknow, you don't need to stay inside.
If you're an RV or you can get out andyou can go and explore and you can go
hike, you can have your alone time.
You can go out there and that's what.
You know, RVing is all about.
It's to get out there.
You don't have to spendall your time in the RV.
And let me tell you aboutrain days in my van.
(25:57):
They suck.
Because I do feel like I'm trapped.
Because I don't normallyspend all day in the van.
I like to be out and whatever.
So, I found like, raindays, I go to movies.
You know, I'll go to a mall.
And just go walk around and, and,and things along those lines.
You know, I'll find something todo just to be able to get outside.
Because that's so important.
Just being able to get outside.
And, um, And, and just explore.
(26:19):
So, don't worry about being close.
You can be as close to or as faraway from somebody as you want
when you're doing, uh, this.
And then your daily routines, youknow, as a full time RVer, they're
gonna, they're gonna differ,but they're gonna be the same.
You're still gonna wake up, you're stillgonna work, you're still gonna think about
what you're gonna do today, you know,but instead of saying, Oh, I'm gonna...
Vacuum, I'm going to mow the lawn.
(26:40):
I'm going to, you know,go and clean the gutters.
You're saying, well, we're goingto check out this campsite.
We're going to go do, youknow, go explore this town.
We're going to sleep here tonight,or we're going to go back to the
campground or we're going to leavea day early or stay two days later.
You know, so you're stilltrying to make the adjustments.
You're still making those decisions.
They're just different decisions abouthow you choose to live your life.
(27:03):
So it is an adjustment.
But when it's all said anddone, it's not much different
than what you're already doing.
Finally, is full time RVing right for you?
Well, if you've gone through thislist and you've been nodding your
head up and down going, yeah, I getit, I can do that, then it might be.
But if you're like, oh...
(27:23):
I can't do that.
No, there's just, that's a hard no.
RV full timing might still be for you.
Because one of the things that I hear themost is, Oh, I need a shower every day.
So take a shower every day.
You know, in my tiny van,I've got a full shower.
You know, in my big RV,there's a full shower.
I'm at a campground, there'sa bunch of full showers here.
(27:44):
You know, So, maybe you're not going to bean RVer that goes boondocking out in the
middle of nowhere for weeks and months onend if you need this hot, unlimited water.
Maybe you're going to be more ofan RV campground kind of RVer.
And again, there'snothing wrong with that.
You know, so, don't let that kindof thing say, Oh, no, I'm not
ever going to be able to do that.
(28:05):
Um, you know, another thing to considerwhen you're looking at full time RVing is
your relationships with the people going.
Are they all excited as you are?
Are they all ready to go?
Now, I've done a lot of interviewson the RV Dreaming podcast and
for the full time freedom week.
I've talked to a lot of people And there'sa lot of times where one person is more
(28:26):
excited than the other But the personwho's not excited agrees to try it, you
know, quote air quotes try it for oneyear Or some specific length of time.
And they're the ones that endup falling in love with that
lifestyle more than anyone else.
Like, I was just talking to somebody,they've been on the road for like three
or four years now, but it was a one yeartrial, and now they're all in, and they're
(28:49):
raising their children that way, andit's the one thing that she goes, I never
thought I would have ever have done this.
Like, it, it blows me away.
It is not anything like I thought about.
I thought I was going to have to suffer,I was doing as a favor to my new husband.
No.
They're all in.
She loves it.
You just never know.
So, but, relationship considerations,if everybody's on board, then
(29:11):
everybody needs to be on board.
You have to be able to cope with,uh, changes in uncertainty as well.
You know, things change really quicklyaround here, and being able to, you
know, just kind of go with the flow andthink things through with a level head.
Very, very important.
Um, finally, And this is, andthis is, I started without this.
(29:32):
And to be honest, right now, I stilldon't have an answer to this last point.
Long term goals and how fulltime RVing fits into them.
I don't know.
People ask me how longI'm going to do this.
I don't know.
People ask me if I would everconsider settling down again.
I don't know.
I don't want to say yes.
(29:52):
I don't want to say no.
I, I just know that, You know, going backto the lifestyle elements of a full time
RVer, you just kind of go with the flow.
If somebody called me up todayand said, Hey, I got this great
job you would be interested in.
It would require you to getoff the road and be in person.
But hey, here's the job.
And it was something thatI've always wanted to do.
Yeah, done.
I'm in.
(30:14):
I've turned down jobs becausethe opportunity doesn't sound as
exciting as getting off the road.
You know, so there's that, that balancethere, and to get me off the road would
have to be something pretty spectacular.
, but nothing's come up like that.
Now, also, I am getting tired.
I'm in my third year of full time RVing,you know, without a domicile, without
(30:36):
a home base, without any of this.
So, I am getting tired.
It is a lot of work.
I'm planning, thinkingabout where we're going.
The driving, all the kind of variables.
So this winter I am planning onslowing down my travels a little bit
and not being so go, go, go, go, go.
Just to kind of give me a little reset.
And I think for me, that's goingto give me the rest that I need
(30:59):
to be able to move forward.
And wintertime really allows you todo that because as the winter moves
in from the north and it gets colder,everyone fought south to Arizona,
Florida, Texas, You know, for, fortheir full time wintering, uh, needs.
And I think that's what I'mgoing to be doing as well.
I think I'm going to be camping out insouthern Arizona for the, for the winter,
(31:23):
and not moving as much, or at all.
So that's going to be enough for meto kind of recharge my batteries, to
stop and focus on some other things,like growing this podcast and working
on RB Dreaming and stuff like that,to allow for me to be ready to go.
Come April and May, where I want tohead back up to Canada again, where I
want to go hit the Pacific Northwest,I'm sorry, the Pacific Northwest, oh,
(31:45):
and the Northeast, you know, so...
I don't know.
And it's okay.
You don't have to have that in mind.
You don't have to have an answer.
I don't.
Does that mean thatyou can't full time RV?
Absolutely not.
Do it.
Just start going.
Alright?
So these are the main pointsthat we looked at today.
Is full time RVing right for you?
Understanding the fulltime RVing lifestyle.
(32:08):
The pros and the cons.
Financial consideration.
Lifestyle adjustments.
And finally, you know, some otherthings about is full time RVing.
Right for you and I'dlove to hear from you.
What are your pros and cons?
What are your drawbacks?
What are your fears about hitting theroad and now that you've been on the road
if you've been on the road Tell me whatyou thought Your fears were how you dealt
(32:28):
with them and how you're getting throughyour next cycle your next phase of your
nomadic lifestyle I'd love to know moreabout all that drop your comments below.
I really appreciate you tuning in Thankyou for listening to the RV dreaming
podcast If you like what you heard oryou got something out of this please
take a moment and leave us a reviewon Apple podcast or Spotify and helps
(32:49):
us get more exposure and helps us justMore people like you thrive on the road.
Alright, so enjoy your travels,make them safe, make them
fun, and make them memorable.
RV Dreaming.
Start here, go anywhere.
We'll see you in the next episode.
Thanks for listening tothe RV Dreaming podcast.
See the action on Instagram.
Steward doing stuff.
(33:09):
Hear about it on the podcast.
Be sure to subscribe.
We'll see you in the next episode.
And welcome to RV Dreaming.
In this podcast, we help youprepare for life on the road.
Whether you're in an RV or van or inthe back of your car, we teach you how
to get on the road and how to surviveyour first year as a full time nomad.
RV Dreaming, start here.
Go anywhere.
How you doing?
My name is Stuart from Stuart doing stuffon Instagram I've been a no man since
(00:23):
2020 and I split my time between my 40foot super C RV and my 24 foot Sprinter
van and I travel with my two cats Camdenand Izzy follow me on Instagram at
Stuart doing stuff That's S-T-U-A-R-T-doing stuff for more stories and videos
and today We're gonna talk about fulltime RVing and not about my travels Per
(00:45):
se, we're gonna talk about whether it'sgonna be great for you because everybody
asks, is full-time RVing like worth it?
Is it, is it good?
And, and should I do it?
And, and I think that questionhas so many complicated answers.
So today we're gonna take a step,a six step assessment on whether or
(01:06):
not full-time RVing is right for you.
First, we're going to understand whatfull-time RVing is all about, and then.
We're going to talk about the prosand the cons of full time RVing.
We all see the pros on Instagramand on YouTube and all the pretty
stuff, but there are a lot of cons.
I think sometimes there's just asmany, if not more cons as pros when
(01:26):
it comes to living full time in an RV.
We're also going to talk about financialconsiderations, whether or not you can
really save money by living on the road.
We're going to talk about lifestyleadjustments, about how your lifestyle
is going to completely change from whatit is now to being on the road mobily.
And then finally, we're goingto talk about, is RVing, full
(01:46):
time RVing, right for you?
With a little self assessment, andtaking into account everything that
we've talked about up until this point.
Okay, are you ready?
Alright, let's do this.
So number one, understandingfull time RVing.
Now there's a couple waysthat people look at this.
I'm a what, I'm a full time RVer.
But there are other RVers that arealso full time that do it differently.
(02:08):
And what does that mean?
So, I do not have a home base.
Some people have a home base.
Maybe they live in their vans but theykeep a storage shed or they keep a land
or a house that they rent and they go backto it to maybe take a break from the road.
Maybe, you know, whatever.
I don't have any of that.
I am.
I live full time on the road.
I don't have a place where I go backto, to unwind or to reset or regroup or
(02:33):
any of that, what my home is, my van.
And so wherever I go, I, I,I have all my stuff with me.
I don't have a reset position.
I don't have a place where Ican go and just take a time out.
So I'm a full, full time RVer.
And sometimes that doesn't always workfor people because when you're out.
(02:53):
On the road, you're always having tosay where am I going to sleep tonight?
Where am I going to go?
What direction am I going to go?
And for some people, likemyself, that's exciting.
That's entertaining.
That's that great, um,adventurous, spontaneous spirit.
Where you don't know where you'regoing to wake up in the morning and
you don't know where you're goingto see or who you're going to meet.
That, you have to have.
Some people just don'thave that, and that's fine.
(03:15):
Does that mean that if you don'thave that spontaneous spirit,
you can't be a full time RVer?
Absolutely not.
You absolutely could.
When I first started RVing inmy Super C, I had reservations
planned out for six months.
I knew where I was going, I knewhow long I was going to be there, I
knew what I wanted to do when I wasthere, and I knew when I was leaving.
So there's a whole bunch of different,um, ways that you can full time.
(03:40):
But I think one of the biggestcharacteristics of full time RVers...
Is you're looking for something new,you're looking for an adventure, you're
looking to try and do something or seesomething that you've been wanting to
or you never thought you would havean opportunity or a chance to do,
you know, full time RVing is amazing.
I'm out here in Palm Springs right now.
And because I'm in my van,I have, I'm at a campsite.
(04:02):
I'm at a Thousand Trailscampsite, and I was able to get
a reservation here for two weeks.
My, my plan allows me to getthree weeks of reservation.
I'm only at two.
But, I will take the van, and I'll,I'll go out and explore Palm Springs.
There's some great hiking, there'ssome great sightseeing, there's
some great stuff out here to do.
And then, sometimes, I'll stay out there.
I'll just stay, you know, maybe ifI'm gonna go do a Joshua Tree tour.
(04:25):
I'll go out and do a night inJoshua Tree, and then I'll come
back to the Thousand Trails.
You know, to my campsite that's hereand regroup and shower and do all
those other, other kinds of things.
Um, there's other times where I'mjust trying to beeline it from one
place to the other and I'm goingto go six, eight hours a day.
Other times I just don'tknow where I'm going.
So I'm just looking for an adventure.
(04:46):
You know, I've, I've foundthat small towns are amazing.
I found that, um, I actually.
I kind of enjoy going to smaller towns andsmaller areas like that than I do going to
bigger ones just because there's, there'sso much more to see and so much more
to do there and so much more character.
That's exciting.
You know, so I think all ofus who are full time RVers, we
(05:07):
have that sense of adventure.
We have that sense of excitementof what's behind door number two.
You know, somebody came up toyou and said, Hey, I'm going to
give you 100 cash or you can havewhatever is in this mystery box.
I think we're going to take themystery box, or at least I would.
You know, win or lose, you never know.
There's times where I've haddestinations where I'm just so looking
(05:28):
forward to going and then when I getthere, it's such a disappointment.
And then there's other times where I go,well, I don't want to drive anymore, I
think I'll just stop here, and it turnsout to be some of the best places and
some of the most fun that I've ever had.
So, you just never know.
So, understanding full time RVingThere is no wrong way to RV.
(05:50):
I think that's the best way to say it.
Whether you want to be highly spontaneouslike myself, like I just described, or if
you want to be a planner and know whereyou're going, why you're going, like I did
when I first started, you can do that too.
Is one way wrong, or better, or worse?
Absolutely not!
It just all depends on whatyou want out of your RV travel.
(06:14):
So don't let anyone tellyou you're doing it wrong.
Because there's no such thing.
Okay, so now let's talk about someof the pros of full time RVing.
Here's step number two, freedomand flexibility to travel.
I remember when I was working,I would love to travel.
I wanted to go see things and Iwanted to go do things, but the
cost of travel between airplanetickets, hotel rooms, meals eating
(06:38):
out, all that stuff really adds up.
In an RV, you have none of that.
You don't need to worryabout hotel room bills.
You don't need to worry about eating out.
You don't need to worry aboutthe, the, all these other expenses
because you have your stuff with you.
So if you want to splurge and you wantto go out to dinner, you can do that.
But if you wanted to stay home and cook...
(07:01):
You can do that too.
That's the greatest part aboutfull time RVing is you have
everything you need with you.
It really significantly cuts downthe cost of travel, the cost of
exploring, and there's the costof vacationing to an extent.
So that has got to be the biggest thing.
If you ever said, I want to go here butI can't afford it, you probably could
(07:22):
afford it if you are a full time RVer.
It really does strike the cost.
We're going to talk about financialconsiderations coming up in step four.
Um, More about pros.
And I'm going to say thisbecause to me this is a pro.
To some people it might not be.
But I'm going to go with, uh, simplifiedliving and downsizing possessions.
(07:43):
There is a time in everyone's life, Ithink, that you kind of realize that,
um, You measure your worth, your life,yourself, your accomplishments, not by the
car you drive or the house that you have,but by some of the other intangibles,
like your relationships, your family,your children, your friends, you know.
(08:04):
And, and now, as long as you havethat, you don't need these things.
So, downsizing and simplifying your life,um, and it allows you to really focus on
relationships and focus on bigger thingsas opposed to focusing on, oh, look at
that new model car that just came out.
I need to go get that.
(08:25):
Or, oh, check out thisTV, I need to go get that.
Simplified living takes a lot ofstress off your plate that you
can use to focus on other things.
So that is a, a big pro in my book.
Uh, potential cost savingscompared to traditional living.
You know, when you look at thecost of rent nowadays, when
(08:46):
you're looking like in California.
A one bedroom apartment can be goingfor anywhere between 2, 500 and 4, 000
a month for a one bedroom apartment.
You know, and, and that'sjust, to me, mind boggling.
That, um, you can do that.
We talk, we, we hear stories allthe time about how the real estate
(09:07):
market is Is it's just dead right now.
Interest rates are high, nobody'sselling, you know, it's just, it's
really hard to get into, uh, into a home.
And so because of that, everybody'srenting and it's driving up rent prices.
So we hear about all that kinds of stuff.
And I just say, you know, an RV maybe a depreciating asset, but at least
(09:31):
it's still an asset when you're rentingfrom somebody, an apartment or a house.
It's an asset, but it's not yours.
It's not going towards anything.
When you leave that lease,you can't get anything back.
As opposed to an RV, you go out andspend 50, 000 on an RV, you live in
it for X number of years, and whenyou go and sell it, and you sell
(09:52):
it for 30, 000, at least now you'regetting 30, 000 of your 50 back.
It only cost you 20.
You know, so, there's, there's...
Benefit of even though it is adepreciating asset and at least it's
your asset At least when it comes timeto get rid of it and sell it and move
on and change your life or whatever youwant To do at least you have now still
(10:12):
something to show for it So that's to meis is another pro is it gets you out of
that Sticks and bricks it gets you outof that rental place at the high rent
where you can still Save quite a bit ofmoney doing this Another pro and this is
one that I did not anticipate, but it'sthe community on the road There are some
(10:33):
amazing people traveling full time intheir RVs And I'm not talking about, like,
if you see movies and you see, you know,people who talk about, oh, you're living
in your car because you're homeless, youhave no other options, you got bad credit,
you can't get a job, you can't do it.
We're not talking about that.
I know people that I've met on theroad that are computer programmers,
that are data scientists, that areall working remotely, that are all
(10:56):
exploring, that are all traveling,that are all living their best life.
Right now.
And, and I think that's one of thosethings where you kind of get this, this
perception that, Oh, if I'm, if I'mgoing to get on the road, you know,
the only community that's out thereis, you know, these dirty old people
that can't, you know, hold down a job.
(11:16):
They're all druggies or all this.
That's not true.
I mean, there are.
That, them that are out there,but the great thing about being
on the road is you can pack up andyou can go and find your tribe.
You can find people that relateto you, and you relate to them.
There are people that are out there, itdoesn't matter who you are, or what walks
of life you're coming from, you willfind that group of people on the roads.
(11:39):
I'm talking about solo travelers,solo female travelers, families.
Seniors, retired, working age, everythingin the middle, you can find on the road.
And it's not that hard to do either.
All right, tip number three, let'sgo over the cons of full time RVing
because we can make it, you know,look all pretty and, and sunshine
(12:00):
and rainbows and stuff like that, butthere are some cons to full time RVing.
And I think the first one is goingto be the one that resonates with
people the most, and it's the lackof stability, you know, people.
inherently like routines.
They like to go to home, or get home,wake up, go to work, go to their
thing, and then come home and be done.
(12:21):
They like that, people likethat sense of stability.
Um, in an RV, you do have that,but you gotta add a couple
other items into the mix.
So, there is no, uh, you don't havea permanent address, you don't have
a permanent place to live, you don'thave a permanent place to sleep.
Well, you have your van, or yourRV, you sleep in your RV, but
where are you going to park the RV?
You know, you're always thinkingwhat's next, what's next, what's next.
(12:43):
And for some people, they cansee it as just, that's just one
more thing I have to worry about.
You know, and, and, That can alsobe a pro though, because if you
like that spontaneity, if you likethat creativity, if you like getting
out there, that could be there.
Space limitations and privacy concerns.
So space limitations, absolutely.
We talked about this in the prose.
(13:04):
You're downsizing your life.
You're downsizing your possessions.
You're living a more simplistic life,which means you only need the essentials.
You're only going to get the essentials.
You're only going to have roomfor the essentials that you need.
As far as tangible items in your life.
So, when we talk about spacelimitations, I never thought
(13:25):
I could live in a 24 foot van.
I went from a 3, 000 square foot condo,to a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 3, 000 square
foot condo, to a, um, 40 foot RV, to a 24foot van in a matter of a couple years.
I never thought I could do it.
But I love it.
It's, it is the greatest,greatest thing ever.
(13:47):
So, there you go.
Privacy concerns, um, I'm a solo traveler,so I only have to worry about privacy with
my two cats and they don't care, they justkinda do their thing and I do my thing.
I think if you're traveling withyour partner, a wife, spouse,
boyfriend, girlfriend, um, if youwere living together anyways, you're
just gonna get a little closer.
If you're talking about privatetime with, uh, kids and families and
(14:10):
all that, well, I'm not the rightperson to ask on that, I just...
Straight out, I'm notthe right person to ask.
I have no experience with all that.
I can tell you, though, that if you'rea family traveling, or a large group
that's traveling, these RVs that areout there, especially when you get into
these fifth wheel sizes, they've gotprivate bedrooms, they've got outdoor
spaces, they've got indoor spaces.
(14:31):
Some of these things can rival anapartment that you would get in
like a Chicago or a New York oranything along those lines, you know.
Some of these placesare built for privacy.
Some of these new RVs, these fifthwheels, have bunkhouses and attics and
things like that that you can get up toand throw the kids up there and stuff.
So let them have their spaceso you can have your space.
There are ways of getting aroundany sort of privacy concerns that
(14:54):
you may have, um, as an RVer.
I think the one that bugs me the moston the cons list is this maintenance
and the unexpected repairs part.
You could be driving down theroad and anything could happen.
You know, you might say, hey, we'releaving point, place A today and
then we're going to be there in placeB and you could be down the road
and any number of things happen.
You can get flat tires, it could betraffic, it could be freeway shutdowns.
(15:17):
You know, but I think that's one ofthose things that We as RVers, we just
kind of go with the flow on, you know,there's nothing you can do to change it.
So you just, you just shrugit off and you, and you deal
with the problem at hand.
Now, do you like it?
No, absolutely.
Isn't it inconvenience?
Absolutely.
But it's no different than if you'replanning Thanksgiving dinner at
your house and your sewer drop, youknow, backs up or toilet clogs, or
(15:39):
you have a roof that's leaking, youknow, any of these kinds of things.
You, you have to do the same thing.
You just kind of roll with it.
So whether you're in an RV.
Or you're in a Sticks and Brickshome, you're gonna have these
kind of emergencies and theseunexpected repairs that pop up.
Is it happen more often in an RV?
Maybe.
I don't know.
(15:59):
Um.
Depends on your RV.
Depends on the housethat you're living in.
Depends on the, on your landlord.
Depends on a lot of things.
So, that's kind of a, uh, avery different kind of thing.
Another con, and this is the lastone on this section, then we'll
move on to financial considerations.
Uh, the last con I have is, um,weather dependency and safety.
(16:21):
Excuse me.
Weather dependency.
Um, you don't want tobe out in a hailstorm.
You don't want to be outin a lightning storm.
Even heavy rain.
You don't want to beout in excessive heat.
The good thing about it is, we canget away from all those if we need to.
So...
Just always being alert and alwaysbeing aware and you're ready to go.
Not a big deal safety concerns That's athat can run from a wide gamut of things
(16:45):
We do full podcasts on RV safety and youshould go look those up if you haven't
seen it But those are those big two bigcons though that will wrap up this list
as far as full time RVing All right.
So what about money?
What kind of financial considerations?
Are there in RVs?
Well, like I mentionedbefore, you gotta have an RV.
(17:06):
You gotta buy one, you gotta rent one, yougotta lease one, get a loan, do whatever.
Um, how much?
RVs run anywhere between brand new, maybe25, 000 if you want to get a little travel
trailer fifth wheel or travel trailer kindof thing, all the way up to millions and
millions and millions of dollars for thesebig fancy Class As and stuff like that.
I noticed that most people...
(17:28):
Most RVs, you can find, depending onwhat you're looking for, somewhere, you
can find a quality one, especially used,starting as low as 50, 000 and as high
as, you know, six or even seven figures.
So, it's hard to say howmuch money Do I need?
Because it just alldepends on what you wanted.
You can go find an RV with reallygreat bones that's been mechanically
(17:52):
maintained that looks great and youcan gut it just like a house and you
can upgrade it with your own sofas,your own furniture, your own things.
You know, you can make it yours.
Uh, for very, very little money.
So, as far as the cost of an RV, that'sreally kind of up to you, but if you set
your budget, you can go out and you canfind the best darn rig that you can find
(18:14):
that money will buy, that your moneywill buy, and that you can make it work.
That's not a, uh, That is not a drawback.
You can find whatever you needto be able to hit the road.
Even if you have an SUVright now that can tow.
You say your tow capacity is 7, 000pounds like a Jeep Grand Cherokee.
I think their tow 500 pounds.
You can go out and find RVsthat weigh less than that.
(18:36):
And then you're in the, and thenthat's 20 something thousand dollars.
You're good to go.
Right?
You're all set.
Now let's look at some other stuff.
Fuel, insurance,maintenance, campsite fees.
Oh gosh, you know, fuel.
I always say fuel is my biggestexpense, but I travel a lot.
If I traveled less, I wouldn'tspend as much money on fuel.
(18:58):
I mean, it's a basic thing.
If I stuck around an area, like,again, I'm in Palm Springs.
There's a lot of BLM land out here.
There's a lot of stealthcamping spots out here.
Uh, it's a very friendly, RV friendly,stealth camping area to be at.
If I just made a circle and I neverslept in one spot more than two days,
like if I'm here one night and I moveda mile down the road and slept somewhere
(19:19):
else for another night and I moved toJoshua Tree and I was there for a week.
You know, your fuel costis going to be nominal.
Your campsite fees are going to be zero.
You know, you can really addall that kind of stuff up.
Your insurance is going to be thesame whether you drive 1, 000 miles
or you drive 10, 000 miles a year.
You know, that's not the issue.
Maintenance, kind of the same thing.
It's going to fluctuate dependingupon the number of miles that you pay.
(19:41):
Put onto your rig.
So that's kind of a hard kind of scenarioto be able to look at But what I would
say is when you're budgeting you shouldalways budget for emergencies because
you just never know what's gonna happenand emergencies Are different than
your normal repairs and maintenance.
You should be budgeting for yournormal repairs and maintenance for
Your tires, your oil changes, and,and all that other kinds of stuff.
(20:03):
You know that's going to come, sostart putting money away for that now.
Emergency budgeting, I'm talkingabout is if your air condition
dies, your refrigerator dies, andyou need to go and buy a new one.
Those are the emergency kind of costs thatI'm looking at um, when I say emergencies.
So, you have your repairs andmaintenance budget, you also
have your emergency budget.
(20:25):
Let's talk about Income on the road,remote work, seasonal jobs, you know,
you can get jobs at campgrounds.
You can get seasonal jobs as a camp host,running a campground, in maintenance,
in repairs, in customer service.
You know, if you stay, I know alot of people that will stay put
for one campground season, makea bunch of money, And then travel
(20:46):
the rest of the eight months, youknow, that's, that's an option.
There's a, someone that I know thatjust got a amazing, uh, camp work job
in Yosemite, stayed up in Yosemite theentire season, met a ton of different
people and was out exploring the entirepark, lived on site, um, for free.
In the van just cost no money had anamazing summer made a ton of money and
(21:09):
then just hit the road again So thereare a lot of things that you can do
That are out there as far as seasonalwork as far as remote work remote
jobs kovid really element, uh elevatedremote work and when it comes to um
The acceptance and the availability ofnomadic jobs, so that's a huge thing
(21:31):
when we look at financial consideration.
So, can you save money living onthe road or in an RV as opposed
to your current situation?
Well, that's a hard question to answer.
If you're asking that question andyou're in a high rent, high cost of
living area like California, New York,Miami, something along those lines or
Chicago, the answer is probably yes.
(21:54):
But if you're listening and you are in,uh, uh, Iowa or Kansas or some other
lower cost, uh, place, uh, lower costof living, um, the answer could still
be yes, but it's also gonna depend.
So, every situation,every area is different.
So, can you really savemoney by living on the road?
(22:15):
I am.
I'm saving a lot of moneyby living on the road.
Uh, but I also was paying highrent and I was in a high cost
area in Los Angeles, California.
So, that's an individual answer thatyou're going to have to talk about.
And decide for yourself.
Alright, so number five.
Lifestyle adjustments.
Well, we talked about a lot ofdifferent lifestyle adjustments
(22:36):
from moving into a home into an RV.
We talked about the elements of stability.
We talked about downsizing.
We talked about a lot ofthese other kinds of things.
But I think that When you're looking atthese adjustments, you have to go in with
the basic concept that you are moving fromwhat you were doing before, maybe it was
(22:58):
a more materialistic lifestyle, and you'removing now into more of a minimalist.
Lifestyle.
So you only carry what you need.
And for me, I only carry somethingas long as it can do multiple things,
you know, and you just kind of haveto change your way of thinking and
change your, your perception and changeyour outlook on, on certain stuff.
(23:18):
And it is hard.
It can be hard at first.
Um, but I think that it is, um, onceyou kind of get into that, you're
gonna go, Why did I need that 5, 000statue and an interview hall table
and a chandelier and the thing?
You know, because those are justthings that you think you need.
I mean, how many times have we boughtsomething, where it's like, oh, this is
(23:41):
going to make my life so much easier,and then you use it for a little bit,
and then you put it into a kitchendrawer, never to be heard from again.
I mean, those are the thingsthat, that you kind of look at.
It's like, why do I need tobe in that I'm on Ti you know,
like, so you're on TikTok, right?
And you know those things, thoseAmazon products you must have, or
new kitchen gadgets, or whatever.
And it's like, All these things thatyou can go and buy that cost 30,
(24:04):
however much they cost, but it'slike a knife will do the same thing.
Or this whole thing that I alreadyused for one thing can do, so you don't
all of a sudden need those anymore.
So you're not spending moneyon those things anymore.
You know, you're living this down, thisminimalistic, simplistic lifestyle because
you're filling your time, you're fillingyour bucket with experiences and exploring
(24:28):
and taking on A different level ofsatisfaction that you get from, from life.
Not a materialistic ones anymore.
You know, we're going to talkabout living in close quarters
with family or your partners.
Uh, that definitely is goingto be a lifestyle adjustment.
Uh, but again, going into full time RVingwith the right rig, knowing what your...
(24:54):
Must haves and like to haves.
It's like buying a houseor looking for this.
You're going to have your must have list.
You're going to haveyour nice to have list.
Use that list when you go shopping fora rig, and you're going to be okay.
You know, just know that it'sgoing to be a lot closer.
But, here's the great thing about the RVlife, is There's, you know, you have your,
(25:15):
if you're in an apartment, you have yourlittle patio that's just sitting outside.
Right?
Maybe it has a little view of the streetor the park or courtyard or whatever.
But when you're RVing,you don't have a patio.
You have a whole nature preserve.
You have everything.
When you're in an RV park, there'sswimming pools and hot tubs and
rec rooms and pool halls and...
(25:35):
All these different pickleball, I'mlooking at a pickleball court right here
and horseshoes and barbecue pits, youknow, you don't need to stay inside.
If you're an RV or you can get out andyou can go and explore and you can go
hike, you can have your alone time.
You can go out there and that's what.
You know, RVing is all about.
It's to get out there.
You don't have to spendall your time in the RV.
And let me tell you aboutrain days in my van.
(25:57):
They suck.
Because I do feel like I'm trapped.
Because I don't normallyspend all day in the van.
I like to be out and whatever.
So, I found like, raindays, I go to movies.
You know, I'll go to a mall.
And just go walk around and, and,and things along those lines.
You know, I'll find something todo just to be able to get outside.
Because that's so important.
Just being able to get outside.
And, um, And, and just explore.
(26:19):
So, don't worry about being close.
You can be as close to or as faraway from somebody as you want
when you're doing, uh, this.
And then your daily routines, youknow, as a full time RVer, they're
gonna, they're gonna differ,but they're gonna be the same.
You're still gonna wake up, you're stillgonna work, you're still gonna think about
what you're gonna do today, you know,but instead of saying, Oh, I'm gonna...
Vacuum, I'm going to mow the lawn.
(26:40):
I'm going to, you know,go and clean the gutters.
You're saying, well, we're goingto check out this campsite.
We're going to go do, youknow, go explore this town.
We're going to sleep here tonight,or we're going to go back to the
campground or we're going to leavea day early or stay two days later.
You know, so you're stilltrying to make the adjustments.
You're still making those decisions.
They're just different decisions abouthow you choose to live your life.
(27:03):
So it is an adjustment.
But when it's all said anddone, it's not much different
than what you're already doing.
Finally, is full time RVing right for you?
Well, if you've gone through thislist and you've been nodding your
head up and down going, yeah, I getit, I can do that, then it might be.
But if you're like, oh...
(27:23):
I can't do that.
No, there's just, that's a hard no.
RV full timing might still be for you.
Because one of the things that I hear themost is, Oh, I need a shower every day.
So take a shower every day.
You know, in my tiny van,I've got a full shower.
You know, in my big RV,there's a full shower.
I'm at a campground, there'sa bunch of full showers here.
(27:44):
You know, So, maybe you're not going to bean RVer that goes boondocking out in the
middle of nowhere for weeks and months onend if you need this hot, unlimited water.
Maybe you're going to be more ofan RV campground kind of RVer.
And again, there'snothing wrong with that.
You know, so, don't let that kindof thing say, Oh, no, I'm not
ever going to be able to do that.
(28:05):
Um, you know, another thing to considerwhen you're looking at full time RVing is
your relationships with the people going.
Are they all excited as you are?
Are they all ready to go?
Now, I've done a lot of interviewson the RV Dreaming podcast and
for the full time freedom week.
I've talked to a lot of people And there'sa lot of times where one person is more
(28:26):
excited than the other But the personwho's not excited agrees to try it, you
know, quote air quotes try it for oneyear Or some specific length of time.
And they're the ones that endup falling in love with that
lifestyle more than anyone else.
Like, I was just talking to somebody,they've been on the road for like three
or four years now, but it was a one yeartrial, and now they're all in, and they're
(28:49):
raising their children that way, andit's the one thing that she goes, I never
thought I would have ever have done this.
Like, it, it blows me away.
It is not anything like I thought about.
I thought I was going to have to suffer,I was doing as a favor to my new husband.
No.
They're all in.
She loves it.
You just never know.
So, but, relationship considerations,if everybody's on board, then
(29:11):
everybody needs to be on board.
You have to be able to cope with,uh, changes in uncertainty as well.
You know, things change really quicklyaround here, and being able to, you
know, just kind of go with the flow andthink things through with a level head.
Very, very important.
Um, finally, And this is, andthis is, I started without this.
(29:32):
And to be honest, right now, I stilldon't have an answer to this last point.
Long term goals and how fulltime RVing fits into them.
I don't know.
People ask me how longI'm going to do this.
I don't know.
People ask me if I would everconsider settling down again.
I don't know.
I don't want to say yes.
(29:52):
I don't want to say no.
I, I just know that, You know, going backto the lifestyle elements of a full time
RVer, you just kind of go with the flow.
If somebody called me up todayand said, Hey, I got this great
job you would be interested in.
It would require you to getoff the road and be in person.
But hey, here's the job.
And it was something thatI've always wanted to do.
Yeah, done.
I'm in.
(30:14):
I've turned down jobs becausethe opportunity doesn't sound as
exciting as getting off the road.
You know, so there's that, that balancethere, and to get me off the road would
have to be something pretty spectacular.
, but nothing's come up like that.
Now, also, I am getting tired.
I'm in my third year of full time RVing,you know, without a domicile, without
(30:36):
a home base, without any of this.
So, I am getting tired.
It is a lot of work.
I'm planning, thinkingabout where we're going.
The driving, all the kind of variables.
So this winter I am planning onslowing down my travels a little bit
and not being so go, go, go, go, go.
Just to kind of give me a little reset.
And I think for me, that's goingto give me the rest that I need
(30:59):
to be able to move forward.
And wintertime really allows you todo that because as the winter moves
in from the north and it gets colder,everyone fought south to Arizona,
Florida, Texas, You know, for, fortheir full time wintering, uh, needs.
And I think that's what I'mgoing to be doing as well.
I think I'm going to be camping out insouthern Arizona for the, for the winter,
(31:23):
and not moving as much, or at all.
So that's going to be enough for meto kind of recharge my batteries, to
stop and focus on some other things,like growing this podcast and working
on RB Dreaming and stuff like that,to allow for me to be ready to go.
Come April and May, where I want tohead back up to Canada again, where I
want to go hit the Pacific Northwest,I'm sorry, the Pacific Northwest, oh,
(31:45):
and the Northeast, you know, so...
I don't know.
And it's okay.
You don't have to have that in mind.
You don't have to have an answer.
I don't.
Does that mean thatyou can't full time RV?
Absolutely not.
Do it.
Just start going.
Alright?
So these are the main pointsthat we looked at today.
Is full time RVing right for you?
Understanding the fulltime RVing lifestyle.
(32:08):
The pros and the cons.
Financial consideration.
Lifestyle adjustments.
And finally, you know, some otherthings about is full time RVing.
Right for you and I'dlove to hear from you.
What are your pros and cons?
What are your drawbacks?
What are your fears about hitting theroad and now that you've been on the road
if you've been on the road Tell me whatyou thought Your fears were how you dealt
(32:28):
with them and how you're getting throughyour next cycle your next phase of your
nomadic lifestyle I'd love to know moreabout all that drop your comments below.
I really appreciate you tuning in Thankyou for listening to the RV dreaming
podcast If you like what you heard oryou got something out of this please
take a moment and leave us a reviewon Apple podcast or Spotify and helps
(32:49):
us get more exposure and helps us justMore people like you thrive on the road.
Alright, so enjoy your travels,make them safe, make them
fun, and make them memorable.
RV Dreaming.
Start here, go anywhere.
We'll see you in the next episode.
Thanks for listening tothe RV Dreaming podcast.
See the action on Instagram.
Steward doing stuff.
(33:09):
Hear about it on the podcast.
Be sure to subscribe.
We'll see you in the next episode.
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